Teaching Someone to Love
by His Baby Love
Summary: Bella, Edward, and Alice are back from Italy and, as far as the family knows  except Alice and Jasper, of course , everything is fine between Edward and Bella.  When a new cowboy arrives in town, things change...some, for the better and some...well...
1. Who Are They?

A/N: Ok, it's been awhile since I've posted anything at all. I'm so sorry everyone! This is a Peterella (Peter/Bella) story. There are so few of these out there that I feel obligated to write one. Plus, it's one of my favorite pairings out there. It is rated M so if you don't like that, or if you are under the legal age to view rated M material in your area, please stop now. The story WILL match the rating.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Twilight or any recognizable characters from the story. I just use them to my advantage and make them play with other characters in ways that Stephanie Meyer would never do.

Summary: Peter goes to the Cullen family for a visit and realizes that Bella is his mate. She feels the instant pull as well but Edward tells her she is not allowed to have any contact with him. What will happen during their fight for love? Will it be a full war between Peter and Bella and the Cullen family? Or will some of the Cullens change sides to help them?

Chapter 1: Instant Attraction

*PPOV*

I got back in my Titan after gassing her up and put her in gear. I haven't seen my brother, Jasper, in many years and decided to go have a visit. I may have to become a 'vegetarian' for the duration of my stay but it'll be worth it to see Jazz again. Damn, I miss that bastard.

After a couple of hours in the truck, I pull up at the Cullen's home in Forks, Washington. I have no clue why anyone would want to live in this dreary town but, if you're hell-bent on being a domesticated vampire, it's the perfect place to live I guess. Limited sunlight, ample wildlife, small population...if I was going to set up a permanent residence, this would be one of the areas that I would consider.

The front door opened by the time I reached the front steps, revealing Carlisle and Esme. I smiled and gave them both a hug in greeting. I hadn't seen them in ages either and, while we weren't close, I still enjoyed their company. Esme is like the mother I never had and I loved having conversations with Carlisle about the changes in the world.

"Jasper is with the rest of the kids in school dear. They'll be home in about an hour or so. Just so you know, Edward has found his mate in a human girl named Bella. If that makes you uncomfortable, we can tell him not to bring her by for the next few days," said Esme, though her eyes were sad with the thought of not seeing her future daughter for a while. This human girl must mean something great to all of them; I'll have to hunt much more often if I'm going to be constantly exposed to human scent.

"No, darlin', I don't mind being near a human, it will be no discomfort for me at all. I am a guest in your home; I don't want to disturb your normal routine. If Bella is a constant in your lives and home, then please, by all means, allow her to continue to come over. Don't let my presence disrupt your daily lives."

Esme showed me to my usual room and left, allowing me to shower and change after my trip. I thanked whatever deity may be out there for that, knowing that _Charlotte_ would never have done the same, the hovering harlot. You'd think I'd never learned to shower as a human the way she acted.

I must have stayed in the shower longer than I realized because I heard Jasper bust through the front door yelling, asking Esme where I was. I chuckled to myself and called out to let me dress before he busted in on me.

I didn't realize it but I was incredibly lucky in that moment. Being fresh from my shower, I didn't notice the absolutely amazing smell wafting off Edward as he flew past my room. If I had noticed it in that moment, it would have been the literal death of me. If I had smelled the pure, sweet scent of strawberries and cream that lingered on his clothing, I, Peter Matthew Smith-Whitlock, swear that I would have hunt down the innocent Isabella Marie Swan in that very moment and drained her dry. Fortunately for her and I both, I didn't catch her scent in that moment.

**BPOV**

It was such a struggle to get through school today. I'd been trying to tell Edward that it was over for months, but he didn't want to hear it and continued to act as though we were still together. I kept up the act as well, not for his sake but for the safety and lives of my family and myself. I hated thinking about his threat and, of course, that was _all_ I could think about.

_Flashback_

_Edward, Alice and I returned from Italy and Edward asked for a few moments to speak with me. Alice obliged and ran home, giving us the privacy Edward desired. How I wish she had seen what was about to happen, that it wasn't such a split-second decision._

_Edward moved in to kiss me and I turned my head, causing his lips to fall on my cheek instead. He looked at me questioningly and voiced his concern. "Bella, what's wrong? I'm alive; I'm here to be with you, I promise, I swear that I will never leave you again. I now know that I cannot live without you, my life force. I will even allow you to be changed, my love. Please, tell me what's wrong."_

_I sighed and smiled softly, as if to help calm him before I replied. "Edward, I've had some time to think while you were away. Yes, I came with Alice to save you, but that's because I don't want to see anything bad happen to you nor do I want to see the family upset because something happened to you because you hurt yourself over me. I love you, Edward, I really do, but I realized that I'm not in love with you. I don't need you like I thought I did, I can live without you and be happy. I can live my own life, make my own decisions, take care of myself, and do all of the things you insist on doing for me. I still want to become a vampire, and I still want to be a part of the family, I just don't want to do it WITH you. I'm sorry."_

_He looked at me for approximately ten seconds, then laughed. I'm not talking a slight giggle, he laughed a full, gut-wrenching, belly aching laugh. When he finished, he looked at me and caressed my cheek. "Did Emmett put you up to this as a joke? That's pretty good; you must have practiced a lot, I actually thought you were serious for a few moments."_

_I shook my head and looked him square in the eyes. "Edward, I'm sorry, but this is not a joke. I am absolutely serious. I am not in love with you."_

_He looked back into my eyes and I saw the last flicker of the Edward that I used to know before his eyes turned hard and his face set into a stone-like scowl. "I know you're not joking, Isabella, and neither am I. You had better keep up the front of being in love with me or not only will I kill you, but I will kill your family as well. I will NOT be alone again. And, as crazy as it sounds, I do love you. Or, rather, I love the fact that I can't HEAR you and that you play the submissive one. Keep up the act or you, your mother, Phil, Charlie, Sue…they're all dead."_

_End Flashback_

I sighed as I got out of my truck and went in my house to shower before going to _his_ house. For some reason Alice wanted me to look extra nice when I went over for the weekend. I have no clue as to what that pixie is up to but I hope it's good and not another shopping trip; I have more clothing than I'll ever wear in my God-given life.

I take the stairs two at a time and take a long, hot shower, making sure to shave what needed to be shaven and washing everything. Afterwards, I took my time getting ready. I pulled my hair into two French braids and used a tad of my favorite freesia lotion (everyone thinks I like strawberries but I prefer freesia). I put on a light dusting of makeup and pulled on my forest green leggings, chocolate brown peasant dress, and chocolate brown Uggs. Grabbing my school and travel bags, I jumped into my truck and headed to the Cullen house. _'__Maybe Alice will keep me occupied most of the weekend with her plans', _I mused.

Little did I know that, as soon as I walked past the mysterious (yet undeniably sexy) truck in the Cullen driveway I would be changed forever; the scent alone that was wafting off of and around that Titan would make me breathless and dizzy with needing to be around the owner. I wouldn't understand it at first but I would understand it as soon as he ran out of the front door to keep me from falling.

No, as I was praying for Alice to keep me busy and away from Edward, I had no clue as to exactly who I was going to meet this weekend. Alice knew though, and thank whatever deity there was out there for giving her the gift of 'sight' so that she could warn him about me before I got there so he wouldn't be too overwhelmed by me.

A/N: Thanks for reading! The first chapter is slow with minimal dialogue, I know. From now on, I will be putting all A/Ns, disclaimers, and everything else down here at the bottom so that you can dive right into the story.


	2. Breaking Away

**Bella POV**

I parked my truck behind the oh-so-sexy yet unfamiliar chrome-on-black Nissan Titan. Hopping down and grabbing my bags, I started walking to the front door, figuring that the truck belonged to the person Alice is so anxious for me to meet.

And that's when it hit me. A gust of wind from behind the house slipped past the Titan and hit my face, assaulting my olfactory system. I staggered, dropping my bags, and attempting to grab the edge of the truck bed. Unfortunately, my fingers slipped and, unbeknownst to me, I was falling face first towards the ground; thankfully I was unaware as I was now in a daze due to the scent still coming off the truck.

I came back to my senses a moment later as I felt the rush of wind whipping my hair around my face. Looking up into the face of the person who was carrying me, I gasped as I saw the most beautiful vampire I'd ever seen in my life and, considering that I know Rosalie, the epitome of beauty, that was saying a hell of a lot.

He appeared to be looking at me with the same sense of wonder that I was gazing at him with. I didn't feel embarrassed underneath his intense scrutiny like I usually do; I also noticed that I didn't feel any fear. I knew I should have felt fear while being in the arms of a strangerpire (for lack of knowing his name), much less a strangerpire with gleaming red eyes. All I felt, however, was safe and surprisingly warm in his arms.

At the clearing of someone's throat, the strangerpire straightened so that we were both standing up but didn't remove his arms from around my waist. He smiled softly at me as he swept a few stray strands of hair behind my ear, causing me to shiver slightly and smile in return. He looked towards Jasper, who smiled back at him with a huge grin while I spared a glance at a grinning, giggling, bouncing Alice with a smile probably matching my strangerpire (yes, I just said _my_ strangerpire), when Edward slammed through the front door.

"Get your hands off of my mate _right now_!" he demanded, much like a petulant child. I looked at him like he was insane while everyone else looked at him in shock, like they'd forgotten all about him. The strangerpire looked back to me with a saddened expression on his face and made a move to release me. I shook my head and grasped his biceps harder.

"I don't know who you are, strangerpire, but please don't let me go. I'm not his mate, I'm just his singer. He's deluded himself into being in love with me when he really just doesn't want to be alone. He won't even change me to be with him forever. He has threated my human family to make me stay with him," I say as quickly and quietly as possible. I was surprised with myself, I could barely even hear my whisper, although Edward still may have heard.

I chanced a glance at him and could tell that he hadn't heard _me_, but was currently reading the strangerpire. Here comes the rage in five, four, three, two, one…

"Isabella, I don't know why you feel the need to lie to Peter about our relationship, my love, but you know that we're supposed to be together. Don't you love me like I love you? You are my life, my heart, the one link I have left to my soul. Please don't damage that my pet." Edward had a slight smirk on his face, like I was going to be severely hurt later, but I was the only one to notice it.

My eyes were pleading with my strangerpire while my thoughts were racing. _So this is Peter, Jasper's brother? I thought he was mated? If so, where is his wife? Maybe they split? I can only hope so, and I can also hope that he can help save me from Edward._

Peter sent one more fleeting glance into my eyes, as if trying to read my soul, then he released me. The feeling of rejection hurt so badly that I almost keeled over until I noticed Alice pulling me backwards as Peter crouched in front of me, protecting me from Edward and growling. I looked to ask her what was going on when she whispered, "Just watch, you'll understand soon enough. Peter knows you were telling him the truth, that's his gift. We don't know how he does but he just _knows_ shit."

Edward was now crouching too, ready to lunge at any second. I hope that Peter's gift was as strong as Edward's, giving him just as much of an advantage over Edward that Edward had over him. I didn't want my beautifulpire to get hurt by the assholepire.

"Edward, if you step one more millimeter towards _my_ mate, I will not hesitate to rip your head off of your shoulders and burn you in your own pyre." Peter looked back at me briefly to wink, then turned back to Edward, who was flustered and stuttering.

Alice took a step towards Edward and said, "Edward, we both knew that you weren't Bella's mate, you saw my vision. I'm sorry that I blocked who her true mate is from you but, if you knew, you would have never allowed her to come here while Peter was visiting, which would result in her never meeting him. She still has free will and, if she so chooses, can be with you; however, you know that she won't. Peter and Bella feel more for each other now than you could ever imagine feeling for her. Please, Edward, just let her go, let her make her own choice like the crown woman that she is instead of treating her like the glass doll that you perceive her to be."

Edward was tense and strained, like he just heard that his entire family had been killed by the Volturi. "Bella, is this what you truly want? To be with a human drinker that you don't even know? How could you do this to me, to us? I thought that the whole reason you came to Italy was because you loved me and wanted to be with me. Please, love, come with me, I'll keep you safe."

I shook my head as I stepped next to Peter. Instead of pushing me behind him in order to protect me like I knew he wanted to (although I have no clue as to how I know this), he stood beside me, like he knew I _needed_ him to. He was already showing me that he was willing to treat me like his equal instead of like someone inferior to him just because I was a human.

"Edward, you know that I do not want to be with you; I was only with you because you threatened the life of my family. You allowed Jasper to believe that my fear of being around you was a fear of being around him. I understand that you love me in some weird, deluded way but I am far from being in love with you. You are no longer the _man_ that I thought I fell in love with. You were right, _you_ _are_ a soulless monster. Not all vampires are, but you definitely fit the bill. Peter may be a human drinker but that does not make him a monster like you believe; that's just a predator feeding on his natural prey. I understand that you wanted to protect me, but that does not mean that you get to make all of the decisions. Stay away from me and stay away from my family."

I hadn't realized that the rest of the family had entered during my mini-speech but I didn't care at that moment. I reached my hand out for Peter's and he took it instinctively, not only as a statement but also as a sign of protection, companionship, equality, and love. I beamed up at Peter just as I heard Edward open the back door to exit the house. I was sure that this wouldn't be the last time that Peter and I heard from him but we would worry about that when the time came; for now, we'd worry about getting to know each other.

A/N: So there you go, Peter and Bella meet and instantly knew that they were mates. I know that it seems a bit quick but, I can promise you, that this is not where the story is going to end and their relationship is going to probably be slow going, even though they know that they are meant for each other and they love each other immensely. I'm definitely not a review whore, but they are always nice. I enjoy the ones that say "Great story!" and "I can't wait for more!" but I also enjoy constructive criticism. If you're going to flame my story because it's not a Bellward story, please just click back on your browser twice. If hate the story, why bother posting a review that you hate it? I'll just use your flame to fuel my bonfire this weekend.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognized characters or places in this story, they are owned by SM and her affiliates. I just merely borrow them so that I can make them do my bidding.


	3. An Odd Change in Loyalties?

Chapter 3: Who Are You?

BPOV

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett stared at the back door for about ten seconds before Rosalie rounded on me. I retracted my hand from Peter and crossed my arms over my chest while he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist with his thumbs lightly caressing my stomach.

'Here it comes, the bitchiness that is Rosalie Hale,' I thought to myself with a light smirk. Boy, was I ever right?

"Isabella Marie Swan, how could you just let your mate walk out of the back door like that? And then just cuddle up to another vampire, a human drinker at that, like nothing is wrong, like you've been with him all along? Carlisle, are you just going to allow her to do this, to tear apart this family?" she screeched. I rolled my eyes as Carlisle nodded his head.

"Yeah, Rose, I'm going to let her do this. She isn't ripping this family apart, Edward is. You arrived a bit later than everyone else and didn't hear a good portion of what happened. Edward threatened her on their way back from Italy. She didn't want to be with him yet he threatened the lives of her parents and their spouses in order to keep her with him. Bella is her own woman and can do as she pleases. On top of that, Peter is her true mate.

"This isn't just a thing where she saw him, thought he could save her, and went to him like you think Rose. She hadn't seen him when she was affected by him; she smelled his scent coming off of his truck and nearly collapsed! For a _human_ to be affected by a faint scent like that is remarkable. Rosalie, this is how things are going to be. As much as I hate to do it this way, I'm standing behind Bella on this one. If there is anyone here who doesn't like that, they can leave this right this moment, leaving all things Cullen behind, until they are ready to understand this. All of you have mates; you should understand the pull that one mate has on the other." said Carlisle.

I looked at him with tears in my eyes over his support. I figured that I'd receive support from Emmett, Alice and Jasper; Carlisle and Esme could have gone either way and I knew that Rosalie would be completely against this, especially since I fought so hard to be with Edward to begin with. This was fantastic.

Rosalie stared at me, wide eyed, and took a step towards me. I leaned back into Peter more and Emmett put a restraining hand on her shoulder. She looked at him before looking at me again and opening her mouth to speak:

"Bella, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was like that. I don't want to dislike you anymore; I can see now that you were meant to be in this world with us. I want to make up all of those times that I was mean to you; will you allow me to do that? Whatever you want, all you have to do is ask. I want you as my sister. Please Bella, you mean so much to the rest of this family, including my husband."

I looked at Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett, and they seemed happy by her statement. I then looked to Alice, Peter and Jasper because they were the three that would be able to tell me if there was anything malicious in her statement. All three of them hesitated and I nodded. For the sake of the moment, I extended my hand to her.

"Rosalie, I accept your apology but you have a lot of work to do to gain my trust. I'm not trying to be rude; I just don't automatically trust people who have been completely against me for so long. I need proof that you're willing to change your ways and truly want to be around me, that you really want me as your sister and that you aren't just trying to keep your credit card and car."

"OK, Bella, I understand completely. I will do my best." She smiled at me and shook my hand.

I looked to the rest of the family. "I love each and every one of you very much and I would understand if any of you would like to follow Edward; I've been in your lives for less than two years while he's been in your lives since all of you joined this family, half of you since you joined this existence. I do hope that, maybe one day, he and I can be friends but I'm not holding my breath. Is there anything extremely pressing that needs to be discussed or do you mind if I go lay down for a bit? I'm exhausted at the moment."

Jasper cleared his throat, drawing my attention. "Bella, there is the matter of safety of your parents, step parents, and step-siblings. We need someone to get over to Charlie and Sue's immediately."

I thought about it for a split second, then shook my head. "No, they'll be fine. Edward won't go there in malice because of Seth and Leah. If he does, they'll rip him to shreds in a heartbeat. I told them that if he ever showed up there without me that they should kill him immediately. There is always a wolf near Charlie and one near Sue in case Edward tries to attack them while they're not home. I told them what he told me because Leah and Seth always leave when he was coming over and they told the rest of the pack because they knew that none of them would come in contact with him. They should be fine.

"Is there anything else that needs to be said immediately or can it wait for a while? I need to lie down before I pass out. My head is pounding and I can't think straight at the moment."

Esme looked as if she wanted to say something but Peter stopped her and said: "Esme, if you would bring it upstairs, I will make sure she eats after she takes a hot shower and before she goes to sleep. I apologize for cutting you off but my mate needs her rest. If she doesn't at least get into a bed within the next twenty minutes she's going to pass out, resulting in Carlisle needing to use his degree to suture the laceration in her head."

Carlisle and Esme looked to Alice, who nodded her head with a small smile on her face while I swooned slightly at the protectiveness rolling off of my matepire, or maybe it was from the shock of the day's events. Either way, I was swooning. This wasn't the kind of swooning that I did around Edward, however; I actually kept my awareness of what was going on around me this time.

I looked at Peter as he took my hand and asked, "Bella, are you able to walk upstairs to our room or would you like for me to carry you?"

"I think I can manage to walk, as long as you promise to catch me if I start to fall." I replied.

"Siempre, mis Bella bonita, mis corazon, mis amor. I will always catch you if you fall, as I know you'll do for me."

I put my hand on his chest to steady myself as he chuckled (who knew that Spanish could sound so sexy?) and, with that promise, we proceeded to walk upstairs hand in hand for that hot shower and the dinner that Esme was going to bring up, then I was going to take a nice, long nap.

A/N: OK, so, there will be a family meeting in the next chapter. I'm so sorry that this is a short chapter, I'll try to make the next one a bit longer than normal to make it up to all of my avid readers. Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story up to this point, I've gotten almost (and it may have surpassed this number by now) 2,000 hits on this story alone!

I'm also writing an Emmett/Bella story that's loosely based on my relationship with my ex-boyfriend/current best friend so hop on over to my profile and check it out!

Also, I don't have a beta or a pre-reader for this story or for my other one so all mistakes are mine. If you're interested, send me a PM and let me know. I'll greatly appreciate it!

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters or situations in this story; however, the plot is mine and I love it. If you don't, I'll tell you like Agent McGee told the assistant director in NCIS: stick it! :0) Have a nice day.


	4. Tell Me

Chapter 4: Tell Me

Bella POV

After my shower, I wasn't sure where to go. I always slept in Edward's room but I knew I couldn't stay in there now. It wasn't like he was here to stop me but I would feel disgusting sleeping in his room. I'd just showered and didn't want to feel like that.

Jazz came upstairs and, sensing my confusion, chuckled and took my hand. I smiled and let him lead me down the hallway towards his and Alice's room but, instead of taking me in his room, he opened a door across the hall that I'd never noticed before.

I walked in to find Peter leaning against the headboard of a California King Four-poster bed. I smiled at him and turned to thank Jasper but he'd already gone.

"Thanks, Jazz, I appreciate it," I murmured, knowing he'd hear me. He sent me a small dose of happiness and comfort in return, making my smile grow a bit. My brothers really were strange in how they acted and, in Jasper's case, the emotions they sent.

Peter patted the spot on the bed next to him and I climbed up and curled up underneath the covers. We sat looking at each other for a while, just taking in each other's features. After about twenty minutes of this, I broke the quiet stillness by taking his large, cold hand in mine.

"We need to talk. Trust me, it's not a bad thing, we just need to get to know each other. I know that we're mates but I want to love you for who you are and for you to feel the same about me instead of just loving each other because of the pull we feel. That's not fair to either of us. We could set boundaries on what we talk about and ask questions about and, when we get more comfortable with each other, we could push the boundaries back a bit if you'd like. I'm sure there are things about your past that you're not comfortable talking about with me at the moment, and that's fine. Just let me know what my boundary line is and I promise not to put a single toe over it."

With a blazing smile that literally took my breath away, he swiped a stray strand of hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. There _are_ things that I wouldn't share with the average person, or vampire, because they are that horrible. However, you're my mate and I will tell you anything and everything that you want to know about me; then, when you know all of that, I'll tell you everything that you _don't_ want to know about me, just so that you know everything about me and who I am. The things in my past that are horrendous helped mold me into the snarky bastard that I am. I'm a vampire that's been hardened by war and a manipulative bitchpire named Maria. If it wasn't for Jazz letting Charlotte and I go I don't know who or where I'd be. I _do_ know that if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't have ever met you. I want to get to love you for you as well but, right now, you need to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up and, if I'm not, you can have Jasper and Emmett kick my ass; it would take them both because Emmett doesn't have the sheer skill it would take to beat me and Jasper doesn't have the brute strength he'd need."

I giggled as I heard both Emmett and Jasper yell (most likely for my benefit) "We fucking heard that you asshole!" There was a resounding double _'crack'_ and I heard Esme yell "Boys, language!"

Peter helped me out of bed so I could change out of my sweats and hoodie and into something more comfortable for bed. As I walked back out of the walk-in closet dressed in the matching royal blue camisole and boy shorts that Alice laid out for me I heard a deep intake of breath, then Peter had me under the blankets in the blink of an eye. I laughed for a few seconds and asked what was wrong.

"Bella, we're not alone in here at the moment babe. And I was told that you're incredibly observant," Peter said while shaking his head. "Plus, if I were to look at you in those scraps of material for much longer than I did, it wouldn't be on your body any longer and you are in absolutely _no_ shape for any physical activity at this moment."

In my typical fashion, I could feel a blush coming on at his words and it deepened when I noticed Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett sitting on the other side of the room with their wives in their laps. The fact that the women and Peter saw me in my undies didn't bother me at all; hell, not even Carlisle bothered me that much since he'd fixed so many injuries for me. The fact that Emmett and Jasper had seen me like that, however, was embarrassing as hell.

"Alright everyone, out you go, Petey here has been trying to get me to go to sleep for a while now and…Jasper, what the hell are you laughing at?"

Jasper had started laughing his ass off about three seconds after I started talking. I looked at Pete and I could feel the blood drain from my face at his expression. He looked absolutely feral and it was absolutely sexy as hell.

"Y'all better get out, I think I need to calm my mate down now."

Everyone left and Emmett had Jasper slung over his shoulder because Jazz was still laughing so hard he couldn't even walk. I looked at Peter and said, "Baby, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? What did I say?"

"Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, calls me Petey." Then he pounced.

A/N: I know, I know, it's a cliffie. Do y'all hate me yet? Please don't. I'm sorry it's so short but I really wanted to end it there. Thanks to all of you who are following this story and a million thanks to all of my reviewers! Mwah!

Also, thanks to 01katie for being my pre-reader for this chapter. Hopefully she's not as ready to kill me as the rest of you are!

Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. It's as simple as that.


	5. Giggles, Sleep, and Chats

**Chapter 5: Giggles, Sleep, and a Talk**

**PPOV**

When I heard Bella call me Petey I nearly lost it. Nobody on this earth had ever called me Petey and lived yet here was this little human that called me Petey and I knew I couldn't hurt her one bit. That didn't mean that I couldn't instill a bit of fear into her so she wouldn't call me that _horrible_ nickname again.

She asked me what she'd done to make me mad and she was so cutely innocent on the matter that I almost melted on the spot.

"Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, calls me Petey," I growled out, then I pounced on her. Being as careful as I could, I wrapped my arms and legs around her, locking her in a steel cage as we flew through the air and landed on the bed in such a short time frame that she didn't have time to scream. Once I knew she wasn't going to be jostled I released one arm from around her and began tickling her mercilessly.

Her peals of laughter rang through the air and made me chuckle as well. I could hear Jasper's laughter from downstairs, followed by laughter from everyone else. _'He must be projecting,'_ I mused as I continued to tickle Bella for a few more moments before stopping in fear of her passing out from lack of oxygen.

It took her a few moments to catch her breath. She was still grinning from ear to ear with humor in her eyes and her beautiful face and neck were flushed; I smoothed the hair away from her face and put a hand on both of her cheeks to help her cool off.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"I _loathe_ being called Petey. I don't know why, I've just always detested that nick name. Please don't call me that anymore," I said.

"OK darlin, I won't call you Petey anymore, although I do like the feeling of you on top of me," she said with a smirk on her sexy lips, her eyes dancing with mirth.

I growled and ground my hips into her a bit, causing her to moan in response. "Mis Bella bonita, please don't talk like that unless you're ready to follow through with the implications of your words. I know for a fact that you're not ready for that at the moment, so sleep. We'll talk when you wake up."

She stifled a yawn and nodded her head in agreement. I rolled onto my back and she snuggled into me, laying her head on my chest, draping an arm across my stomach and a leg across mine. I pulled the blanket up to cover us both as she drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

****

After Bella fell asleep, Jasper and Emmett came up to keep me company for a while. We used the time to play catch up, using hushed tones to talk about what had been going on in our lives as my love slept in my arms. About two hours into her nap, Jasper shot a confused look towards Bella.

"What's wrong Jazz?" I asked, concerned for her wellbeing. I hated to think that she was having a nightmare.

Jazz chuckled and said, "Oh, you'll find out soon enough; Baby Bells in a notorious sleep talker."

True to his word, Bella started talking seconds later as she shifted around. She wasn't saying comprehensive sentences but the few words she _did_ say were more than enough.

"Peter…like it…growl…fierce…so sexy…" was all she said before her mumblings stopped. I smirked as Emmett and Jazz laughed. I was elated to know that she already found me attractive.

"Jazz, what's she feeling right now man?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Peter, do you really have to ask? Use that nose of yours; you know it's even better than that of a bloodhound."

I lifted the blanket and took a slight sniff. When I did, I was assaulted with such a concentrated form of her smell that I was intoxicated. She was _aroused_, almost painfully so if I was correct.

'_I can't wait until she becomes like me,'_ I thought to myself with a smirk. She was already the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen in my life and becoming a vampire only enhances that.

The guys and I talked for a few more hours before they scattered and Carlisle walked in the room. My spidey-senses were going off, telling me that he wanted to speak with me about my intentions towards his surrogate daughter.

"Peter," he began, "I am glad that you're mated with Bella. I think she'll be good for you, as you will be for her. I'll warn you now, though, that she's very sensitive. You can NOT leave her for any reason for a while without letting her know exactly where you're going and how long you'll be gone. If you're unsure of how long you'll be gone, over estimate it. Tell her you'll be gone much longer than you know you will be so that she doesn't panic when you're not back in time. She has a bit of a complex with people leaving her since we did so a few months ago.

"I would also like to say that, while I'm not sorry to hear that you and Charlotte have parted ways, I am sorry about the manner in which it happened. You're a good man and you didn't deserve to go through that pain. You're much better off without her."

I smiled at him and thanked him for the warning about Bella and the sympathy on the situation with Charlotte.

"If it wasn't for her leaving me, I would have never found the one person that I'm meant to be with for the rest of my existence. I am thankful for her leaving me; however, the reasoning behind it was painful. I do wish that she would have told me up front if she wasn't happy."

Carlisle left and I spent the next few hours holding my beautiful girl and listening to her breaths, her heartbeat, and her occasional incoherent mumbles. She was so adorable but something told me that the road ahead wasn't going to be easy at all. I knew that Bella and I would be happy together, there was no doubt about that. We were just going to have to work hard to get that happiness and it would take a lot of help from friends and some sources that were a bit unconventional.

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed this story. I'd also like to thank all of you who are reading it and those of you who have added this story as a favorite, added me as a favorite author, and subscribed to me as an author and subscribed to the story. It tickles my innards!

Also, thank you to 01katie for pre-reading this chapter for me and giving me feedback.

Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable from the Twilight series belongs to me. That is all.


	6. Of Talks and Threats

**Chapter 6: Of Injuries and Threats**

**BPOV**

Peter and I spent the next few weeks getting to know each other slowly. Neither of us wanted to jump into things and rush them just because we were mates. We knew we would be together for the rest of our existences without a doubt but we wanted to love each other because of who we were. Even though I knew I could trust him with my life, it was still hard for me to put everything I am out there because of how Fuckward-pire treated me.

When I got home from the Cullen house the weekend I met Peter, I told my dad that Edward and I weren't together anymore. After a lot of coaxing from Charlie and the approval and support from Peter, the Cullens, and the Quileutes, we gradually told him what was going on based upon a "need to know" basis.

All he knew was that there were supernatural creatures lurking around Forks. The Cullens and the Quileutes were the good guys and that there were others of the same genetic make-up as the Cullens that weren't so good. We emphasized that Edward was most likely harmless but, just to be sure, there would always be someone or some_thing_ around Charlie to protect him so he shouldn't be alarmed if he saw Esme lurking in the shadows or a horse-sized wolf just past the tree line.

Of course, Dad started to worry about me immediately. He thought that I should have just as much protection that he had. So, here we are, sitting in the living room waiting for my Peter to get here so Charlie could meet him as not only my protection but my mate as well.

"Bella, shouldn't we, um, I don't know, have some food or drinks or something ready for when he gets here? I want to be polite and everything…" my dad questioned.

An image of Peter eating human food popped into my mind and I started laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. "Dad, Peter and the Cullens don't need food to survive. Just trust me, he doesn't need food."

Charlie nodded his head just as there was a knock at the door. In my excitement I jumped off of the couch and ran through the house. Unfortunately for me (and in a very Bella-like fashion), I forgot that the socks on my feet did not like to grip the tiled floor in the kitchen and I went sliding across the floor and ran straight into the front door, slamming my face on the window that's in the middle of it.

With a resounding 'oof' I landed right on my butt, slightly disoriented and more than a little embarrassed. The look on Peter's face, however, was priceless and had me giggling like a maniac. I managed to gasp out that the door was unlocked and Peter opened it and knelt beside me as Charlie rounded the corner to check on me as well.

"Peter, this is my father, Charlie Swan. Dad, this is Peter Whitlock, my permanent protector and, while the term doesn't fit the magnitude of the relationship, my boyfriend. Before you start with the Spanish inquisition, he won't leave me like Dumbward did, it's physically impossible for him to distance himself from me in any way for any length of time."

My dad stretched his hand out to shake Peter's while he was shaking his head and laughing at my clumsiness. Peter ignored it, however, as he was busy checking me for injury. As soon as he made sure that there wasn't a scratch on me, he shook Charlie's hand and apologized for the delay.

"As a part of my nature, sir, when my, shall we say, partner, appears to be injured, my instincts take over and I have to make sure that she's unharmed. I do apologize for the impropriety of my measures," Peter said.

"Son, if that's how you're going to treat her when she falls, you're going to be doing that a whole lot more because she's the clumsiest person I've ever seen in my life," Charlie chuckled.

Peter hauled me to my feet and, as soon as I took a step forward, I fell again. I guess I was injured after all.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Peter asked in alarm.

"I don't know, I think I twisted my ankle. I'll have to have Carlisle look at it for me later," I responded and Peter started shaking his head.

"I think we should get you over there so he can look at it now. Charlie, would you like to join us? I'd like the opportunity to talk to you and get to know you better but I have to make sure that Bella is OK. Carlisle is on duty in the emergency room at the moment."

"Sure, I'll go but I'll drive my car. Bella, why don't you pack a bag with a few days' worth of stuff in it? That way you can just stay with the Cullens. I'll be working the night shift for the next few days and would feel better if you were closer to more than just one person that can protect you."

I nodded in confirmation and looked to Peter. "Do you mind carrying me up? I don't want to do any more damage than has already been done and it's probably safer this way anyway." He smiled and scooped me up effortlessly, carried me up the stairs, and sat me on the bed before grabbing my duffle bag from underneath my bed and waiting for orders.

I scooted against the wall and put two pillows under my ankle so that it would stay elevated although the swelling and bruising was already extremely noticeable.

"I'll tell you what all needs to be packed as far as clothing and stuff but you're not seeing my skivvies this early in the game mister." He began pouting and I chuckled as I told him what sets of pajamas to pack and what jeans, tops, sock and shoes I needed as well. After all of those items were packed as well as my school books, I shooed him out into the hallway while I hopped over to my dresser to grab some panties, bras, and a couple of cuter, more revealing sets of pajamas.

As soon as I got over to the dresser my phone buzzed in my pocket and, when I opened it, I saw a text from Alice.

_**B-Don't worry about the bathroom stuff, pajamas, panties, or bras. Got you covered. Ordered from VS a week ago, arrived today. Knew this would happen. See you soon. Lu, -A**_

I smiled and called Peter back in. When he looked at the unchanged duffle bag, I smiled and told him that Alice texted me and told me she had me covered so we were good to go. He scooped me up bridal style, sat the duffle bag on my belly, and carried me to the car.

He put my bag in the trunk and buckled me into the passenger seat and, after waiting for Charlie to back into the street, took off for the hospital to get my ankle X-Rayed.

**Peter POV**

I never thought I'd laugh at my mate's pain but, while I don't find the fact that she's hurt funny, the manner in which it happened was just downright hilarious. Emmett was right, she _is_ clumsy. Almost as if she was reading my mind, Bella looked at me with those big, brown, doe eyes and asked:

"Peter, would you _please_ not tell Emmett about this? He'll never let me live it down. He already makes fun of me as it is."

I smirked and replied, "I won't tell him outright but, if you get put in a cast or brace, you know he's gonna ask and I'm not gonna lie to him darlin'. Don't worry; I'll protect you from the big, bad prankster known as Emmett."

She groaned and leaned her head back against the seat. Unfortunately for me, that groan went straight to Peter Junior and he perked his self up and tried to introduce himself to Bella. I began my mantra that I'd been using for the past few weeks:

"_Calm down, you'll meet her soon. Calm down, you'll meet her soon. Calm down, you'll meet her soon."_

We got to the hospital and parked in a spot close to the door. Charlie parked a couple of spots away and I picked her up, pretending to struggle slightly in order to keep up the human charade. I sat her in a seat and sat next to her as Charlie went to check her in. We were through triage and in a room waiting for Carlisle within minutes.

Her dad and I were talking as I sat on the end of the bed and rubbed her tiny feet that were draped across my lap. I was mindful of the pressure I used on her injured foot so I wouldn't hurt her more; instead, I just lightly wrapped my fingers around her bare ankle, hoping that the coolness of my hand would help keep the swelling down.

Carlisle came in a moment later tsking and shaking his head. "You know, Bella, if you want to see me all you have to do is come by the house. There's no need to injure yourself in order to visit me."

She chuckled and explained the situation which, in turn, caused all of us to start laughing again. Only Bella could pull a move straight out of "Risky Business", smash her face on a door window, fall on her butt, and come out with nothing more than an injured ankle. She was really lucky that she didn't break her nose and start bleeding; I'm not sure that I could have controlled myself if that had happened.

"Peter, I'm glad you thought to hold her ankle like that. I'm assuming that you're using your temperature to help keep the swelling down?" I nodded with a small smile.

"Alright Bella, we're going to put you through a full body X-Ray. I want to make sure that you didn't do anything to injure your tailbone or your wrists when you fell. Your ankle just looks like it's a bad sprain but, in light of the severity of the sprain, I want to make sure that it's not fractured."

She nodded and Carlisle wheeled her towards X-Ray in a wheelchair, leaving Charlie and I to our own devices for a bit.

"Peter, I know you say that what you and Bella have is more than feelings, that's it's more of a strong physical pull. I also know that nothing that I can do to you could ever cause damage to you and hurt you. However, I feel that I have to say this anyway: if you hurt her, I will have you killed. Since I can't do it myself, I will not hesitate to call in Jacob and the boys from the reservation."

I nodded and smiled appreciatively. "I completely understand your concern, Charlie, especially after everything that happened with Edward. I promise that I will never hurt her. Not only would I be physically unable to injure her, I wouldn't even know where to begin. We're taking things very slow and getting to know each other as any two humans would do. I don't know her very well yet but I plan to know everything that she's willing to share with me and then some. I also plan to tell her every detail about me."

Charlie smiled and accepted my answer. Carlisle and Bella came back about an hour later with her X-Rays and they confirmed that the only thing wrong was that she tore a couple of tendons in her ankle. There was nothing that Carlisle could do for it except to wrap it in a bandage and give her an ankle brace, crutches, and a prescription for low-dose pain killers.

As we were leaving, Charlie checked with Carlisle to make sure that it was OK for Bella to stay with us and he said that it was fine and that she was welcome any time. In the parking lot, Bella hugged her father and we got in the car and headed to La Casa de Cullen.

**A/N: I am sooooo sorry for the long delay in updating! I am loading this chapter and another will be up shortly after I hope. I got caught up in holiday travels and the start of a new semester. Now that I have my schedule down, I'll hopefully be able to get my updating schedule back on track. I hope that this longer-than-normal chapter is a good enough peace offering for y'all!**

**Thanks, as always, to 01katie for pre-reading this for me! Also, I am still in need of a beta so, if you're interested, please PM me.**

**Also, many thanks to those of you who reviewed and added me to your alerts and favorite author and favorite story. I don't usually respond to reviews unless you ask me a question, then I will respond privately. However, if you ask me a question about what is to come, I will NOT answer that question for many reasons. The two main reasons are: Number one, it's not fair to the other readers if I tell you what's going to happen before I tell everyone else and, number two, I'm not even exactly sure what's going to happen since this story has been writing itself. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for this laptop, my car, and my school books. Please don't sue! I need this computer and the books to do my school work and I need my car to get back and forth to class. Thanks!**


	7. An Unexpected Arrival

**Chapter 7: An Unexpected Arrival**

**Peter POV**

When we got to the house, Alice was at the car door and pulling Bella out before I could get it in park. That little pixie was anxious to play Bella-Barbie and my sweet girl was going along with it. As soon as I looked over at Alice, I got a feeling that something was coming in the _very_ near future and it was going to be something good and bad. She nodded imperceptibly and barely uttered 'I'll explain later' before whisking Bella inside and upstairs to the room she shared with Jasper.

I carried Bella's things to my room and hung her clothes in the closet and placed her school things on the desk before going downstairs to find Emmett and Jasper to see if they were up for a round of Halo. Emmett was more skilled as far as the actual game went but Jasper and I were more skilled in tactics and battle plans so we were somewhat evenly matched.

While we were setting the game up I could hear Esme in the kitchen cooking something for Bella. Alice and Bella were talking upstairs and Carlisle was at work. _'Hmmm, I wonder where Rosalie is,'_ I thought to myself.

I voiced my question and Emmett responded, "She's in town buying parts for one of the cars, though she didn't say which one. She wanted it to be a surprise for the owner."

I shrugged and the game started. After the tenth round Jasper and I were tied with three wins each and Emmett was in the lead with four. Something was telling me to start wrapping this up so I said, "OK, how about Jazz and I play each other and the winner plays Emmett." They both agreed so I set up a two-man slayer round.

I beat Jazz relatively quickly, but barely. Emmett and I started our game and were tied at 24 kills each and the next man with a kill was to win. Rosalie bounced through the front door and kissed Emmett on the lips, causing him to become distracted long enough for me to come out of my hiding spot and kill Emmett with a well-placed rocket.

Emmett started whining that it was unfair, that he was distracted and wanted an immediate rematch. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Maybe next time brother; I want to go see my little spitfire," I said as I started walking for the stairs. Jasper caught my eye and nodded his head towards the back door. I assumed he wanted to go for a quick hunt so I nodded to him and ran upstairs for a second.

"Bella, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going for a quick hunt with Jasper. I'll be back shortly darlin'," I called through the door. I didn't want to open it and interrupt their girl time.

"OK my sexypire, I'll see you when you get back," she said in a normal tone that she knew would reach my ears. I smiled and ran back down to meet Jasper and we booked it through the back door and into the woods.

As soon as we got out of earshot, he stopped and faced me. "Peter, I wanted to talk to you for a second. When Rosalie came back in the house, she was gleeful. Not gleeful as in 'I found the perfect part' gleeful either; this was too powerful for that. She's up to something, I can tell. She never participates in public displays of affection other than hand holding or wrapping their arms around each other unless she's in an extremely good mood. I just wanted to tell you in case your spidey-senses didn't go off."

I thanked him and said, "Since we're out here, let's get a quick bite. I don't wanna leave Bella again for a while."

We grabbed a couple of deer and headed back to the house. As soon as we walked in my senses prickled and I went straight up to get Bella. I knocked on Alice's door and it was opened immediately. Alice's face was distraught and she ran through a quick, 30-second explanation of a vision she'd had right before I pulled up with Bella.

My eyes got wide and I scooped Bella up and raced back downstairs, sitting her on the couch. She looked at me with questioning eyes and I really looked at her for the first time since we got to the Cullen house. Apparently Alice decided to do a make-over on her to help boost her confidence. I thought she was beautiful before but now she was absolutely stunning. She had a light brushing of make-up, just enough to accentuate her cheekbones and eyes. Her hair was cascading down her back in large ringlets and she was in a pair of form-fitting jeans and a black tank top that was a bit lower cut than she normally wore and it showed a sliver of her soft stomach. If the person that was coming through that door wasn't about to walk in within the next 15 seconds, I would have taken Bella upstairs immediately and ravished her until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Peter, what is going on honey? Why do you look so panic stricken? Is everything OK?" she questioned quickly.

"Bella, I know you want to stand beside me for anything and everything but, please, just let me handle what's about to happen. There's no time to explain but I've got this, OK? Do you trust me?"

"Yes, Peter, of course I trust you! I trust you with my life! What is going on?" she asked in a panic as everyone in the household gathered in the living room. Everyone but Bella and Rosalie was pissed as hell. Bella looked panic-stricken and confused and Rosalie looked thrilled.

I heard footsteps on the drive and the door opened as I was turning around to face it. In walked one of the last people I ever wanted to see. Changing my mind about Bella staying put at the last second, I stepped back to her, helped her up, and had her lean most of her weight on me and off of her ankle. I wanted this bitch to see that I'd moved on, that I was a better man that I was before, that I was finally _happy_ with this eternal existence that I'd been cursed with.

"Jasper, it's so good to see you! It's been ages! And Peter, why have you been hiding from me? Don't you love me anymore?" the she-demon simpered.

I nodded once in her direction and asked, "What are you doing here, Charlotte?"

**A/N: A cliffie! I'm sorry, don't kill the writer or you won't know how it ends! Thanks again to 01katie for pre-reading and I still need a beta so, if you're interested, let me know via PM.**

**Also, many thanks to those of you who reviewed and added me to your alerts and favorite author and favorite story. I don't usually respond to reviews unless you ask me a question, then I will respond privately. However, if you ask me a question about what is to come, I will NOT answer that question for many reasons. The two main reasons are: Number one, it's not fair to the other readers if I tell you what's going to happen before I tell everyone else and, number two, I'm not even exactly sure what's going to happen since this story has been writing itself. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue; it's as simple as that.**


	8. Bella the Fearless

**Chapter 8: Bella the Fearless**

**Peter POV**

Bella looked up at me as if she was silently asking me a question. I put my forehead to hers and rubbed my nose against hers, giving her an "Eskimo kiss". She smiled at me in adoration and understanding. My girl understood me like no other ever had. I grinned back and looked to Charlotte, waiting for her to answer my question.

"Peter, I'll answer your question if you answer mine. Why have you been hiding from me? I thought you loved me. I understand that we're not mates but I thought we were happy together and that we'd stay happy together until one or both of us found our true mates," she said.

My expression turned grim as I answered her. "Charlotte, you're right, I did love you even though we're not mates. We _were_ happy together. Contrary to your belief, however, I have _not_ been hiding from you. I told you that I was coming to stay with Jasper for a while after I found you in that compromising position with that guy. Did you really think that I was going to stay with you while you were running around with every Tompire, Dickpire, and Harrypire you came across?"

Charlotte shook her head and smiled at me softly. "Pete, honey, I would _never_ cheat on you like that. If you had stayed around to listen; hell, if you'd have listened to your "Spidey-Sense", you would have known that it was for a reason. There was never anything between Jack and I. He's a nomad and came across our scents. He followed them to the house and came in the door without knocking. I just happened to be getting out of the shower, Peter. He saw me and, being a rogue newborn and unable to control his emotions, he pounced. That's when you showed up. As for why I'm here, Rosalie tracked me down and said there was an emergency. She told me that you had 'dazzled' Edward's human mate into believing that _you_ were her mate instead. As soon as she told me, I came here. How could you do this to Jasper's family? How could you tear someone's mate away from them, Peter? How could you do this to _me_?"

Everyone turned to look at Rosalie but, before anyone could speak, Bella let her have it. My baby sure was fearless because even _I'm_ afraid of a pissed off Rosalie and I'm a trained war veteran.

**Bella POV**

I'd heard enough. Rosalie thought that Peter had "dazzled" me into believing that I was his mate? Hell no, that bitch had pissed me off enough. I'm tired of being afraid of her, of her trying to make me afraid enough to leave this family. Her petty disdain for me was going to come to an end _NOW_.

"Rosalie Hale, I am done. I am done trying to get you to like me, I'm done being afraid of you, I'm done tiptoeing around here in fear of pissing you off somehow and disliking me more. I can see now why you never took the Cullen name: it's because you are _not a Cullen_. Cullens do not behave like you. You are petty, self-absorbed, whiny, infuriating…I don't know why Carlisle decided to save you. You've been right all along: he should have left you there for dead, just like your fiancée and his friends did. You do not deserve this life. You're ungrateful, sniveling, and conniving. You make it impossible for anyone to like you with the exception of Emmett and, honestly, I don't know what he sees in you except for the fact that you saved him. I honestly can't see the part in you that saved him unless it was because you wanted someone good-looking to hang on your arm all throughout eternity.

"I cannot believe that I once dreamt about you realizing that your disdain for me was stupid and coming around to liking me. I can't believe that I wanted you as my sister! I can't believe that you think that I'm so shallow as to skip from one person to the next with no thought of the consequences. I understand that I hurt Edward. Do you not understand that he was hurting me? Every single day I lived in fear of what he was capable of doing to me, to my family. He was _forcing_ me to be with him. Alice and Jasper knew what was going on to an extent because of their gifts but they stayed out of it at my request. I'm glad that Alice had the vision that she did of me finding Peter because she would not have stayed out of it otherwise.

"Do you not care about anyone's happiness except that of your own? I'll bet you only stay with this family because of the amenities that it offers you. I am disgusted that you are a part of the family that I so desperately wish to become a part of. Do you know how many people on this earth would kill to have a chance at the happiness that you could have with this family if you would just look beyond that clouded veil of yours? If it wouldn't cause me extreme physical pain to do so I would not hesitate to punch you right in that pretty little face of yours right now!"

Before I had a chance to catch my breath from my rant, there was a vibrating 'boom' that shook the walls. I looked up at Rosalie and, to my surprise, Charlotte was standing in front of her and shaking her own hand as if trying to make it stop hurting.

"That is for stirring up trouble among people who don't deserve it, for hurting a family that cares deeply for you despite your many flaws, and for hurting the vampire that I love. You are such a bitch! I cannot believe that you contacted me for this."

She then turned to Peter with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry that I had such little faith in you. Can you forgive me?"

Peter smiled and said, "Of course I can. Charlotte, I'd like for you to meet my mate, Bella. Baby, I'd like to introduce you to Charlotte, my best friend next to Jasper. I think you two will get along fantastically."

I smiled and, instead of taking Charlotte's outstretched hand, I hobbled a couple steps closer and pulled her into a hug with a smirk and heard Alice begin to laugh and Jasper tell me not to do it with humor in his voice. "Any friend of my _Petey_ is a friend of mine."

Everyone in the room except for Rosalie laughed as Peter growled, threw me over his shoulder, and began spinning me in circles. "Peter Whitlock, if you don't put me down this instant I'm gonna hurl!"

Peter sat on the couch and plopped me in his lap. He began nuzzling my neck and I giggled at him. That's when I knew: I didn't want Peter just because we were mates; I was now madly and irrevocably in love with him.

I looked up in shock and found Jasper grinning at me wildly. I smiled back and looked over at Rosalie, who was looking at the floor, ashamed of herself. Nobody was talking to her, not even Emmett. I got up from Peter's lap, grabbed my crutches, and swung myself over to her.

"Rosalie, I'm sorry if what I said to you seemed harsh, but you needed to hear it from someone and everyone else here is too compassionate to tell you. You really need to think about how what you do affects not only you but everyone else around you. Despite how you've treated me, I love you dearly. I want you as a part of my family, I really do, but only if you're going to treat me with respect. I don't want to have to worry about if you're going to be here causing me hell or not."

She smiled at me and it wasn't just a half smile for my benefit; it was a full-blown smile, one I'd only seen from her when it was directed towards Emmett when she thought nobody else was watching. This was the beautiful Rosalie that everyone knew.

"Bella, I truly am sorry. I didn't contact Charlotte for my benefit. Well, I kind of did, but not for the reasons you're thinking. I contacted her for Edward's sake. I just want to see him happy and the only time he's ever truly been happy since I met him was when he was with you. I just wanted him to feel that again."

"Rosalie, I understand and I admire that part of your reasoning but Edward is not in love with me, he's in love with the _idea_ of me. He can't hear me and I smell extremely appetizing to him. He's in love with my mental silence, my humanity, and the _old_ me, the quiet, timid me who listened to him all the time without a second thought. That's not me anymore and it wouldn't have worked."

"I know that now. Thank you for saying what you did, it really opened my eyes. Can you ever forgive me?" she asked sincerely this time.

Smiling, I nodded. "I can in time, Rosalie, but believe me when I say that I will not trust you for a long while."

Alice came dancing up to me and gave me a hug. "Bella, as soon as your ankle is healed, I'm taking you shopping!" She smiled and danced away again.

Laughing, I looked at Rosalie and said, "If you help me get out of shopping with the pixie-pire that seems like she's on crack, I'll knock a couple of months off of not trusting you."

"Deal, but only if you let me take you out and buy you a new vehicle. Your choice and I'll check it over and make sure they don't jack up the price horribly just because you're a girl," she said with a smile.

"Agreed!" We hugged and I swung myself back over to Peter and curled up in his lap. Jasper and Emmett had moved all of the furniture against the walls and began wrestling around as everyone else looked on and laughed.

'I'm the luckiest girl in the world,' I thought to myself and smiled softly.

**A/N: Thanks a million for reading! Thanks for all of the reviews and adds to the alerts and favorites as well! :-) Don't worry, Charlotte is NOT going to be interfering with Bella and Peter at all; in fact, many of you may be shocked for her purpose in being there and the plans I have for her. *wiggles eyebrows suggestively***

**Also, thanks to 01katie for being my pre-reader and getting back to me in a timely manner! She is awesome and gives me all kinds of warm, encouraging words.**

**I'm sorry it took so long to put this chapter up; I had a beta and haven't heard anything back from her since I sent her the chapter. If she's reading this, I'm not mad at you; however, I will be finding another beta so, if someone else out there is interested, let me know!**

**If you review, I'll strike up a deal with Bella so that you can borrow Peter for a night of amazing passion!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. If you do I'll hit you with my shoe! Lol, not really, but I don't own this at all.**


	9. Let Me Show You What Love Is

**Dedication: I know I don't usually post stuff at the top but I feel the need to. Many kudos go out to my pre-reader, 01katie who, without her motivation, this story wouldn't be where it is as of right now. Even though she has some major real life stuff going right now, she read this chapter for me and had it sent back to me a mere 3 hours after I sent it to her. Thank you, darlin'! Many kisses and hugs and alone time with Peter go to you for this chapter!**

**Chapter 9: Let Me Show You What Love Is**

**Peter POV**

While my relationship with Bella was going great, it was moving slower than I had anticipated. She was reluctant to let me in, to let me get to know the little details that made her Bella. Sure, she told me childhood anecdotes that made me laugh and gave me little snippets of what made her into the woman she was today, but she refused to talk about the one time in her life that made an extreme change in her personality.

Of course, I understood where she was coming from. Edward had hurt her pretty badly. Not only had he played on her emotions, he broke her trust. I knew that she trusted me with her life but she hadn't yet trusted me with her heart or soul. I wanted to know what I had to do to get her to open up to me completely.

She was sleeping at the moment; her head was on my chest while one arm was draped across my stomach and the other arm was around my back, almost as if she were making sure I didn't leave her. My angel just didn't understand that I would never leave her, not even if she asked me to.

I lifted my hand to brush my hair from my eyes and this caused her to shift and whimper in her sleep. Then she started to mumble a bit, as was the norm for her, but what she said nearly broke my heart.

'_No…Peter…don't leave me…need you…love you…'_ she said. I was startled by the fact that she thought that I was going to leave her. Nobody should have to think that the person they loved would leave them. That's when I thought about what she said and my dead heart almost beat with elation.

She said she loved me!

I started grinning like a mad man. The beautiful girl in my arms didn't just want to be with me due to the mating bond between us anymore; she wanted to be with me because she loved me! Even though her dream was apparently not a good one, I was over the moon with happiness because she said she loved me. Although I wish she'd been able to tell me while awake, I'd take whatever I could get at the moment.

Alice poked her head in the door with a smile on her face. "Calm down Peter or you'll wake her up. She'll be awake in five minutes and 3 seconds; let her have her human time to shower and eat, then take her somewhere to talk. Tell her about your time with Maria, then about you and Charlotte. Even though you don't think she'll want to hear all of the nitty-gritty details, tell her anyway. It'll make her feel better to know you're not keeping things from her. Also, make sure you explain to her that you plan to make decisions _with_ her, not _for_ her. She hated it when Edward made decisions without her thoughts and opinions in mind."

I mumbled my thanks and waited for my love to wake up. This was going to be a long, hard conversation but I hope that it made her open up to me more, if not completely instead of making her see me as the monster that I was when I was in Maria's army. I know that each member of the family, sans Rosalie for obvious reasons, had sat down to tell her about their change. This included Jasper but I wasn't aware as to how much he'd told her.

I looked at her face as her heartbeat sped up. A moment later, her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at me and smiled beautifully, then stretched. I smiled back at her and waited until she'd finished stretching (and teasing me with the small sliver of stomach that winked at me when her shirt rode up a bit) before speaking.

"Bella, would you like to shower and eat, then go somewhere with me? There are things that I'd like to tell you and I think it would be best if we did it away from the house. It would be easier for me to discuss my past with you away from other ears."

She smiled and nodded before kissing my cheek and going to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I raced downstairs and made her pancakes, eggs and bacon. After her shower, she came downstairs and ate. I quickly cleaned up for her and we walked into the garage.

She immediately walked over to my truck and, as I was helping her in, the main door to the garage opened and Jasper pulled in on his flat black Ducati. Climbing off of it with ease, he removed his helmet (that was all for show) and tossed it with the keys to me.

"Take Olivia, she'll get you there faster. Bella can follow you on Nia or ride with you, whichever y'all prefer. Don't worry about her if you she takes Nia; Nia is Bella's Ducati and she rides almost as well as I do and you know I'm a wicked rider," he said with a smile.

"Plus, the ride will help ease your nerves and it'll help her work out all that energy she has."

I looked incredulously at Bella. "You ride? How did I not know that you had a bike?"

She hopped out of the truck with a shrug. "You never asked my sexy-pire. It's been awhile since I took Nia out anyway, it'll be fun to ride."

She walked over to the cabinet where the riding gear was kept and, after pulling her sneakers off, she stepped into a pair of black chaps, black riding boots, shrugged on her black riding jacket, and slipped her helmet over her head before straddling the deep blue Ducati in the corner. I sucked in a breath and looked at Jasper for help.

"Man, I swear you're trying to kill me."

He shook his head and laughed. "Nah, man, I just knew you'd like to ride today. I didn't realize the effect of seeing Bella in her gear would have on you."

Bella kicked Nia to life and, despite the roar of the engine, spoke in a normal tone: "Come on, scaredy-pire, are we gonna ride or what?"

I jumped on Olivia, pulled on Jasper's helmet, and we raced out of the garage and down the drive. Jazz was right, my girl could _ride_. She wasn't just riding either; she looked like she belonged on a bike, like they were made to be together. I couldn't help the spike of desire coursing through my body as I watched the masterful way she handled the machine between her legs. I also couldn't help the fact that I wanted to be between her legs.

'_In due time, buddy, in due time,'_ I told myself.

I spoke into the microphone that Jazz had in his helmet, hoping that it was connected to the speakers in Bella's.

"Beautiful, let me take the lead. You don't know where we're going."

Her response was to slow down by five miles per hour and move a bit to the right so I could pass. As soon as I did she was on my ass and followed me closely. We pulled up to our destination: a cave in a mountain that you wouldn't notice unless you were really looking for it.

We parked the bikes inside and out of sight of passers-by. She shed her gear and we walked through the cave hand in hand until we reached a tunnel barely big enough to walk through. She looked at me questioningly but followed anyway and, once we reached the other end, she gasped in surprise and delight.

There was a hole in the top of this part of the cave, allowing sunlight in. On the right side, there was a waterfall leading into a little pool the size of a Jacuzzi tub. She ran over and dipped her hand in, smiling when she realized it was hot.

"Is this why Alice told me to wear my bathing suit underneath my clothes?" She asked.

I nodded and we both started undressing. I wasn't paying her too much attention but, when I finally looked in her direction, I was stunned. She was in a white bikini. The bottoms, though a bit low on her hips, were modest enough. The top, however, was a bit more revealing. The straps wrapped around her neck and the base of it around her back, successfully pulling her breasts up and together. She was absolutely stunning.

She was staring at me with the same sense of awe. Although I didn't see it in myself due to my scars (and I knew that Jasper felt the same way), vampires are meant to be attractive to their prey and, since Bella is technically my prey (although I'd never view her as such), she was lured in this attraction.

I walked over to her and helped her into the steaming pool before getting in myself. I sat on the bottom and she sat between my legs with her head rested against my shoulder.

"Bella, it's time for you to know about my life with Maria. I don't want to keep secrets from you. I want you to know everything there is to know about me. I'm sorry for keeping it from you this long; I'm just ashamed of my past, of the things that I did."

"Just remember, Peter, that I love you and will be here for you just as much at the end of your story as I am now. You have me, Peter; you're stuck with me now," she said.

I drew in a shaky breath and began my story. I told her about meeting Maria and her sisters, about being bitten, and about my time in Maria's army, making sure to hold nothing back. I told her about meeting Charlotte (although I held back the intimate details where Charlotte was concerned) and about running away when Jazz was ordered to kill Char.

After I got to the last part of the story where Char and I went back for Jasper, Bella was silent for a moment. I drew an internal breath and waited for her to reject me, for her to tell me that she was repulsed by me and that she never wanted anything else to do with me again.

After a few moments, however, she got on her knees, turned to face me, and wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. She kissed my lips so passionately that I could have sworn my heart began beating again.

Unable to hold it in, I groaned out loud and settled my hands on her hips. My body's reaction was instantaneous and, although her body was much less sensitive than mine, I was sure that she could feel my arousal through the thin layers of our swim wear.

She drew back gasping and rested her forehead on mine. This is where I knew, absolutely, from the bottom of my soul, that she loved me.

"Peter, I know that was a difficult time for you to live through, and I know it was even more difficult to have to live through it again. Thank you for doing that for me, for telling me about your past. I appreciate it more than you could ever imagine. I'm glad that you didn't hold back from me in fear that I couldn't handle it.

"Please, let me love you. Let me prove to you what Jasper told me awhile back: you are worth it. You are worth everything in your life and so much more. You're a good man, Peter. You're perfect for me and everything that I could ask for and then some. You are absolutely amazing and I love you from the bottom of my heart. One day, soon, I want to tell you about my time with Edward. It won't be easy for me to tell or for you to hear because, up until Alice and I went to Italy to get him, we were happy together. However, I've moved on from that. Let me love you, Peter."

"Dear, sweet Isabella, thank you for listening to me and I will be here for you whenever you're ready to tell me about your time with Edward. I will let you love me on one condition: you let me love you. Will you let me erase what you believed to be love and show you what real love is?"

She grinned and said, "Of course" before I kissed her again before she could say anything else.

**A/N: So, y'all thought that there would be some sexin' in there huh? Not yet, but I do promise that it's coming eventually. Thanks to all of my reviewers, I enjoy them and read each and every one!**

**Also, thanks to 01katie for pre-reading this for me!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. Simple as that.**


	10. An Epiphany

**Chapter 10: An Epiphany**

**Edward POV**

I've been up here in Alaska for the past few days. I haven't talked to anyone, I haven't hunted; all I've been doing is trying to figure out how I can get _my_ Bella back. I don't know how she could have left me for Peter. She was obviously made for me: I can't hear her mind and the smell of her blood is divine, and…and…

'_Oh my, what have I done?' _I asked myself. It was as if the entire world opened up in front of my eyes for the very first time. Almost as soon as I had the thought, the sun briefly broke through the clouds, causing me to shimmer like thousands of tiny diamonds.

'_I'm not in love with Bella; I'm just in lust with her scent and her ever-quiet mind!'_ I exclaimed internally. I sat on the ground and buried my head in my hands. I had hurt that beautiful, kind, compassionate girl! It was bad enough when I was hurting her when I felt like I had a reason; now that I have no reason, it's a million times worse.

I have to go back to the family, but how will they react? Will they let me speak without interruption so that I can explain myself and my epiphany or will Emmett, Jasper and Peter rip me to shreds without a second thought? All three of them possessed a 'kick ass now, ask questions later' attitude.

'_I know, I'll call Alice first!'_ I thought to myself. As soon as I pulled my cell from my pocket, it started to vibrate and 'I Hope You Dance' started playing through the speaker. Of course, Alice would know I was going to call her as soon as I made the decision. I accepted the call and put the phone to my ear.

"Sissy, what have I done? I'm so sorry! I don't know what was wrong with me, it was as if I was possessed or something! Please, please, please tell me that the family will at least allow me to explain myself before throwing me into the pyre if I come home," I said hopefully.

I could hear her tinkling laughter on the other end and I could hear the entire family as well, Bella included. They all seemed to be playing some kind of board game or another. I smiled as well, happy to hear their voices, even if it was only through a poor cell phone line. I heard Alice excuse herself; then, the whistling of wind was all I heard for about a minute and a half before she stopped and spoke:

"Edward, come home. We all miss you. I haven't told anyone about your plans to come home yet. I've seen many different outcomes but they are always the best when I don't tell them you're on your way. I don't know what's settled into that brain of yours but I know it's a good thing. I hope that you've figured out some things about yourself. We'll discuss things more in private when you get here but, please, come home. I need my brother back. I love Emmett with all my heart but I need someone to be serious with sometimes too."

"Thanks sister, I'll see you in the morning," I said as I ended the call, put the phone in my pocket, and started running home. I stopped an hour later to hunt big game since it had been so long since I'd had anything to drink. After a couple of mountain lions and a grizzly, I continued the trek home at top speed. Not only was I anxious to get this out of the way, I wanted to know what everyone else at the house knew.

**Alice POV**

Edward was on his way home and would be here at 7:17:33 in the morning. Thank goodness that Carlisle had gotten an excuse for Bella and sent it into the school for the week; we had a lot to discuss as a family and she needed to be here to hear it as well since she was a part of the family. She may not be with Edward any longer but she was still my sister, my best friend, my Bella-Barbie. I know she hates being "Bella-Barbie" but it means the world to me and I know that's why she goes along with it.

Honestly, I missed my brother. Don't get me wrong, I love Emmett to pieces, but Edward was the one that I could talk to and get a brother's standpoint when it was something serious and I didn't want to trouble Jasper. Although, with Peter here now, I may have two brothers that can help me in that sense; also, they were _perfect_ for helping with pranks.

Charlotte had stayed with us since she showed up. I really enjoy having her here; she's quite the firecracker. She and Rose had gotten into quite a few tiffs since she showed up and she never backed down once. I was quite impressed.

Rose has been trying her best to get to know Bella and, slowly but surely, Bella is opening up to her. It takes a lot for Rosalie to admit that she's wrong but, if she does, she does everything in her power to make it right. That's one of the good things about her: it takes forever to get on her good side but, once you do, she loves you unconditionally and will do anything in her power to make sure that you're protected and that you have what you need.

Carlisle and Esme are as happy as they can be at the moment; they're ecstatic to have Bella back in the family. However, they miss Edward terribly. I know they'll be happy to have him back home tomorrow. Carlisle already has his lecture in mind and everything.

Emmett is, well, Emmett. He's been working in overdrive trying to make everyone smile and laugh. He always finds the light in everything and makes jokes about it to help everyone feel better. I'm just glad he's so good at it.

Jasper is doing extremely well. He's taken the time to get to know Bella now that she's not around Edward all the time. Peter knows that Jasper would never hurt her if he could help it and, as he trusts Jasper with his own life, he trusts him with the life of his mate as well. Jazz has always looked at Bella as a sister but, since he's been able to get to know her, it's only helped to solidify that bond.

With Peter and Bella, things are going slowly. If they keep going at this snail's pace, Bella will be in her eighties before Peter changes her. I only hope that, since Peter told her about his time with Maria, Bella will open up about her time with Edward and they'll be able to move along with their relationship a bit quicker.

I'm also banking on Edward coming home tomorrow to help speed up the process. I think that with him here it will give her full closure. Nobody in the family has a clue as to what's going to happen tomorrow, although Jasper knows something's going on because of my emotions. I can't help the overabundance of excitement that's threatening to spill over at any moment. Bella's lucky that she's asleep or I'd be playing Bella Barbie to the max with her right now just to take my mind off things.

**Edward POV**

Slowing my pace as I near the house, I casually walk onto the grounds. _'Should I knock when I get to the door or should I just walk right in as if I've been there the entire time?'_ I wonder to myself. My phone buzzed and I opened it to see a text from Alice.

_Don't fret, you won't have to worry about either option. See you in a few minutes. Be prepared for something life-altering in 15 secs. –A_

I cocked my head to the side and decided not to question it. I kept walking towards the house and, exactly 14 seconds after reading the text, I saw a blur of movement ahead of me. I ran in the direction it was headed and caught up rather quickly. I grabbed the arm of the strange female that was on our property and, as soon as I spun her around, I knew what Alice meant: I'd found my mate. The only question was: who is this person and why are they on our land to begin with?

**A/N: I know, I know, it's a cliffie! I'm going to start working on Chapter 11 as soon as I get this one posted; I'd start it now but, alas, I have a ton of homework I've been slacking on because I haven't been feeling well.**

**Thanks to all of my reviewers! You're all amazing and I read each and every one of them!**

**Thanks a million to 01katie for pre-reading this for me. You rock chica!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue. It's that easy.**


	11. Mates and Explanations

**Chapter 11: Mates and Explanations**

**A/N:** This isn't a true A/N except to tell you to read the A/N at the bottom for an explanation!

**Charlotte POV**

I was coming back from hunting when I sensed another vampire near me. My first instinct was to protect the others so I began to lead him away from the house. He caught up to me quickly and grabbed my arm, spinning me around. As soon as I saw his messy bronze hair and golden eyes, I knew that this was Edward. I also knew that this was my mate and that, no matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn't deny the pull.

We stood there staring at each other for a while, unaware of the time, until his phone buzzed. He didn't break his gaze as he snapped it open and put it to his ear.

"What, Alice?" he asked with a slight hint of aggravation in his tone.

"_I know Char is beautiful, and I know she's your mate, but you both should come to the house now. We have a lot to discuss and everyone here is getting antsy because I won't let them leave until you get here."_

"See you in a few Sissy," he said, closing the phone and putting it in his pocket. He smiled crookedly and shook his head.

"So, you're Charlotte? I've heard about you, mostly through the thoughts of the rest of the family. I'm sure you've heard a lot of horrible things about me and that, despite the mating bond, you absolutely detest me. I understand completely. I've come to terms with a lot of things over the past twenty-four hours though, a lot of realizations. Will you come back to the house with me and hear me out? Please?"

He seemed so earnest, sincere, and truly ashamed. Even if I had wanted to say no, there was no way that I could have. He was my mate; I would be at his side for the rest of eternity.

"Yes, Edward, I will join you. However, you're right: I really don't like you right now."

He chuckled, grabbed my hand, and we raced off towards the white house in the distance.

**Bella POV**

I have absolutely no idea what's going through that Pixie's brain right now but she won't let anyone leave. I don't really have anywhere to go but Peter is dying to get out of here for some reason or another.

"Peter, why are you so anxious baby? I'm sure everything will be fine, just calm down a bit, please?" I pleaded with my anxious-pire. He shook his head and pulled me onto his lap, nuzzling his face into my hair.

"Bella, my spidey-senses are going off and something's about to go down. I don't want you around it in case you get hurt. Someone's about to show up that I want nothing to do with, I just don't know who. I just want to protect you and I can't do that if we can't leave this house right this very second."

I ran my fingers through his hair and shushed him, murmuring into his ear softly like one would do to soothe a child. _'Isn't this a bit of a role reversal? The human calming the vampire to keep said vampire from having an anxiety attack? Where in the hell is Jazz so he can help me with his brother?' _ I wondered.

I heard a soft hissing that must have come from Alice and everyone came into the living room and settled down on the various pieces of furniture. I turned my head and met Jasper's eyes, pleading with him to help me.

A few seconds later, I felt Peter physically relax beneath me and his grip around my waist wasn't quite as tight. I settled into him further and kissed his cheek, nuzzled his neck, and whispered that we'd all be just fine.

I was about to ask Alice what was going on when the back door opened and a familiar voice that I had no desire to hear in the near future rang out, "Hey, everyone."

There was a flurry of movement and, before I knew it, I was behind a snarling Peter, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle, with Rosalie and Esme at my sides, ready to grab me and go if needed. Only Alice didn't step back with everyone else and I realized that she knew that he was going to return. I also realized that, if she didn't tell anyone of his return and she wasn't freaking out like everyone else, then he truly meant no harm.

Thinking quickly before everyone attacked Edward and Charlotte (who I'd just noticed was standing a bit closer to him than was friendly), I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and hoped what I was about to do would work.

Figuring that, although I'm sure everyone was angry with him for showing up, Jasper was probably projecting a bit, I concentrated on him and the most calm, peaceful feeling I'd ever felt in my life in hopes that it would calm him enough to affect everyone else.

It appeared to work momentarily when Jasper stood from his crouch and turned to me with wide eyes. It just didn't work quickly enough because he didn't have time to project before Emmett charged at Edward with an obvious intent to kill.

I felt a snap within me and almost immediately Emmett was stopped in his tracks by an invisible force. He turned in a circle with the most amusing look on his face and started attacking the force around him. I could feel every strike against it but it didn't hurt me one bit; it just felt like minute vibrations, almost like the trembles in the earth after a particularly loud rumble of thunder.

Alice and Peter turned to me with shocked looks on their faces; apparently they weren't expecting this to happen. To see Alice shocked was the funniest thing ever and I would have laughed out loud if I didn't need to sit down from the exertion of my…what was this thing? A shield?

"Emmett," I called weakly, "Are you done attacking my shield and are you going to quit attempting to attack Edward? It's pretty sad when the human's brain catches up to Alice's before the other six vampires in the room."

He nodded and I tried to release the shield from him by thinking about it snapping back to myself and it happened with a slight sting.

"Ow, I'm gonna have to remember to do that more gently next time," I muttered.

"Bella, how long have you known about your shield?" asked Carlisle.

"I don't know, Carlisle, it was an instinctive reaction to protect. Peter, don't interrupt me like I know you're going to, just wait until after everything is revealed and we'll discuss it then. I left him for you, remember? I begged you to protect me. I wasn't protecting him because I want to be with him, I was protecting him for Charlotte's sake and for Emmett's sake because, as much as everyone loathes him right now, I know that any one of the people in this house with the exception of you would be in extreme emotional pain later on down the road if you hurt him. So, let's not act rashly. Instead, everyone take a seat and listen to what Edward has to say, please. For me?" I asked.

Everyone acquiesced and sat down with their mates. Peter scooped me up and curled me on his lap with a blanked wrapped around me to keep me warm. I'm exhausted but I want to hear what has to be said and to see if the asshat-pire is man enough to actually apologize to me for everything that he put me through.

**Asshat-pire (AKA Edward) POV**

I immediately launched into my explanation. I assured everyone that, in the beginning, my relationship with Bella was as it seemed. I also explained that I wasn't sure when it turned from love to possessiveness. I just felt like I had to own her, consume her, make her bend to my will. It was as if, instead of me being the one to read the thoughts of others in their heads, someone else was forcing thoughts and actions into _mine_.

When she met Peter and they instantly mated, part of me acknowledged that and was more than ready to stand down, defeated. Who was I to fight the mating bond? I knew we weren't mates; if we were, I wouldn't have been able to walk away from her in the first place. However, there was a stronger need from somewhere that was forcing me to fight, to make an attempt to keep her as mine.

Carlisle stopped me at this point to ask a question.

"Son, did this possessiveness start before or after you went to Volterra?"

I thought about it for a moment but it was Bella who piped up.

"It was after we got back from Volterra. He was never like this before he went there. However, I started noticing subtle changes while we were on the plane but brushed them aside, blaming them on the fact that he thought he lost me and almost dying himself in the process, along with the now-looming date of changing me. Over the next week or two, it got much worse. It got so bad that he would barely let me out of his sight and made his threats towards my family. Carlisle, do you think that someone in Volterra could have some kind of gift that could be strong enough to reach him from Volterra? Or that someone followed us from Volterra, at the very least, and put some kind of hold on him?" she said.

Everyone besides Carlisle looked at her in shock. Why didn't any of us think of that?

Carlisle's face was grim and he said, "It appears so."

**A/N: OMG, I am soooo sorry for the major delay! RL and college is kicking my butt this semester! I promise that this story is going to really pick up soon.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue.**

**Credit where credit is due: Thanks to 01katie for pre-reading this for me! You're awesome chica!**


	12. A Talk and Time Alone

**Chapter 12: A Talk and Time Alone**

**Bella POV**

Jasper, Peter and Alice confirmed that Edward was telling the truth at the end of his explanation. I knew that something was going to happen and that it may or may not be favorable to us. I just hoped that, for our sakes, it didn't get drawn out.

Edward came over to Peter and I and sat next to us. I looked at him with a smile and welcomed him back home.

"Ya know, Edward, I figured that something or another had gotten into you. I'm glad you're back to you. You just weren't the Edward we all knew and cared about. I was really worried," I said.

Peter just rubbed my back in understanding as Edward looked slightly surprised at my forgiving attitude. Now that I knew for a fact that it was someone using Edward to act that way instead of him acting that way of his own accord, I was willing to forgive him a million times over if that's what it took to have him back in the family again.

"Thank you, Bella, for your forgiveness. Even though I've been with my family for as long as I can remember, your forgiveness means the most to me because you're the one I hurt the most. I am truly glad that you found Peter in all of this; I don't know him well, but I do know that he will take care of you no matter what the cost," he said.

I smiled and, when he stood up, I did as well and leaned in for a hug. Surprisingly, Peter was OK with all of this. Maybe it was his gift telling him that I wouldn't leave him? Or maybe he just trusts me. Whatever it is, I'm glad he's OK with me being friends with Edward. While I am no longer in love with him by any means, I do love him as a brother.

Jazz called everyone's attention and, when I looked at him, I immediately sat back on Peter's lap and shrunk back a bit. This was _not_ the Jazz that was my brother and it scared me a bit. When I looked back to Peter for an explanation, I was a bit afraid of him too.

"Don't worry, mi bonita, neither of us will hurt you. You'll find out what's going on soon enough," he whispered into my ear as he nuzzled my neck in an attempt to calm me.

I relaxed a bit and turned my attention back to Jasper as he began to speak:

"Apparently, this family is under attack by the most powerful coven in the world. Why? We don't know yet. We are going to find out and we will fight to defend ourselves. We'll need help so everyone who has ties with other covens and nomads, please get in contact with them. We'll also need to train. Carlisle, we need to see if the wolves will help us. Peter, Charlotte and I will conduct the training as we have experience in fighting. However, as urgent as this is, we'll start all of this tomorrow. For the rest of today and all of tonight, spend the time with your mate. There will be an indefinite amount of time that you may not be able to spend with them as you wish. We'll meet back here at eight tomorrow morning."

Sensing our need to have a more private place to spend our time, Alice flitted over and told us about the cottage that was on the outskirts of the property so that we could be completely alone. Just before we left, she hugged me and whispered in my ear,

"Just go with things tonight, Bella. They will turn out for the best if you do. I'll see you before you know it."

Before I could question her, Peter had me in his arms and whisked me through the woods to the aforementioned cottage.

When we got to the cottage, Peter carried me into the bedroom and laid me on the bed. Sitting on the bed next to me, he smiled softly and took my hand.

"Bella, we need to have a talk about when you want to be changed. We don't have to do it anytime soon but it's something that needs to be discussed."

I looked at him and smiled at his nervousness. I'd been thinking about it for some time and knew that I was ready to be changed whenever he was ready to do it but I wanted him to do it, nobody else. I didn't want anybody else's venom in my body but his.

"Peter, baby, I've been thinking about when I want to be changed and, honestly, I'm ready whenever you are. I know that we'll have to stage some kind of death, but I've already talked that over with Carlisle and we have a plan set just in case something happens and it has to be done in an emergency. I do want it to be done soon; however, I do have _two_ stipulations to my change."

He raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner and I smirked with what I was about to say.

"Number one, I don't want to see it coming. I want it to be at the right moment so, whenever that is, be like Nike and just do it. Remember, though, that as soon as you do it you have to call Carlisle so he can set the accident in motion and we can all get out of here because of the wolves."

"That makes perfect sense and I'm glad you put it that way. What's your second stipulation mis bonita?"

I grinned wildly and said, "The second stipulation is better left shown instead of said. Just know that I trust you and am fully willing to have this one "human experience" before I'm changed."

He raised his eyebrows in question again before I pulled him up against the headboard next to me and straddled his waist. I leaned down and kissed him fiercely, grinding my pussy onto his already hardening cock.

He moaned and gripped my ass lightly, pulling me down against him harder without it being painful to me. His moan only added fuel to the fire in my belly, pulling an answering whimper from me.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes, making sure I was really, truly sure about this, before groaning and flipping us so that he was on top of me, his cool lips attacking my jawline and neck. My legs automatically found their way around his waist and I thrust up as he started sucking on my pulse point.

He shed us both of our clothes quickly, intensely eager now that he knew I was willing. He kissed his way down my throat, sucked and nipped at my hardening nipples without breaking the skin, licked down my stomach, dipping his tongue into my belly button. I was wiggling around and moaning wantonly and he hadn't even touched me where I wanted contact the most.

When his cool tongue made contact with my hot, swollen clit, I cried out in pleasure and shock. Propping myself up on my elbows, I looked down at him through hooded eyes to see him with a confident smirk plastered on his face.

I grinned wickedly and whispered huskily, "Who told you that you could stop, cowboy? Didn't your mama ever teach you not to start something that you're not willing to finish?"

My words elicited a growl from him as he attacked my soaked pussy, causing my head to drop backwards, pushing my chest out more. He brought me right to the edge of an orgasm and stopped abruptly.

I looked at him in shock and irritation. "What do you think yo-" I started to say before his lips cut me off. Tasting myself on his lips spurred me on more as I gripped his hair hard. He pulled back and kissed my ear.

"Ya should know to never tease a southern man; it only brings more teasin' onto yourself," he growled out, his accent more thick than I'd ever heard it in my life and I absolutely loved it. Before I could respond, his demeanor changed briefly as he asked if I was sure I was ready for this.

I ground up into him as I whispered, "You bet your ass I'm ready for this, cowboy."

He was back to his cocky self as he slid into me, causing us to both moan. I wasn't worried about pain; I'd fallen off my bicycle as a child and broken my hymen. I never thought I'd be more happy about that either.

His movements were slightly rough but sweet at the same time as he moved in and out of me. We took it slow at first but it quickly became fast and erratic as we both neared our climaxes. I could tell he was getting desperate for release but I needed a final push to get over the edge and just couldn't find it.

He reached down and pinched my clit right as he said, "Come for me, mis bonita, _NOW!_" and I did, screaming his name as loud as I could.

What happened next was a shock, but not unwelcome. As he hit his climax, I'm assuming he was acting purely on instinct as he buried his face in my neck and bit down, took one long pull of my blood, and pushed venom into my veins. This caused me to climax again and the last thing I saw before my eyes fluttered closed was his worried face.

**A/N: OK, so, they didn't wait until she was a vampire to have sex but sex lead to her becoming a vampire. I'm going to run for the hills now since I'm sure that many of you will be mad for one of two reasons: that she forgave Edward without question or that the change happened this way. Please don't hurt me, I just do what the plot bunnies tell me to do, honest.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue.**

**Credits: Thanks a million to 01katie for pre-reading this for me!**


	13. Changes

**Chapter 13: Changes**

**Peter POV**

Things happened quickly after I bit Bella. Alice saw what was going to happen milliseconds before it actually did and the Cullens had the house packed, loaded up, and ready to go in less than an hour. Carlisle came to tell me it was time to go and the result was not pretty.

In a feral attempt to protect my changing mate, I made to attack him but Jasper was there to catch me before I did, knowing that only he and Charlotte would be allowed anywhere near Bella. As a result, the two decided to ride in the van they had on hand just in case something like this happened.

The front part of the van appeared to be normal, even though it was separated from the back by a wall. The bottom portion was steel and the top portion was Plexiglas so the driver could see through it. The back, however, was not that of a normal van.

There were no seats at all; instead, the walls and ceiling were padded and the floor was a giant bed to provide as much comfort to the person changing as possible, whether they would notice the effort or not. I was just thankful to know that my Bella wasn't laying on the cold, hard, metal floor of a van while in transit to Alaska.

We made the trip in record time, stopping only for gas. The van was soundproofed, keeping the humans from hearing Bella's soft screams on the very few occasions she actually let them out. Bella's silence was causing me immense worry; I've never been around a changing vampire that didn't scream the entire time while their body was rendered immobile by the venom coursing through their veins.

We were in a remote corner of Alaska within sixteen hours of me initiating Bella's change. When Jasper opened the side door of the van, I jumped out in a crouch and scanned the area for threats before scooping Bella into my arms and bolted through the open front door, stopping with my back against the wall.

Char and Edward were in the living room checking each other over; being in the beginning stages of mating (and with the fact that Edward still wouldn't seal the bond before they were married first), they were a bit more worried about each other after being apart than Alice and Jasper were, who have been together for decades.

Esme muttered something to Jasper but I was too involved in staring at Bella's slightly altering face to notice what she said. Jazz walked over, put his hand on my arm to get my attention, and started leading me to the room that Bella and I were to share.

I gently laid her down on the bed and curled up next to her, prepared to wait for her to wake up. She suddenly started whimpering and she was shaking so hard she was nearly vibrating. I recognized this stage all too well: the venom was spread throughout every inch of her body now and causing her to feel as though she were burning alive.

Getting an idea, I was about to call Char upstairs but thought better of it since it was so hard for her to be away from Edward and I decided on Jasper instead. When he came in the room, I was laying on my back with Bella on her belly on top of me. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I chuckled a bit, feeling my conscious returning to normal.

"Jazz, the venom's fully spread. She was in so much pain she was nearly vibrating. I had an idea though; if I keep her on top of me like this, and one of you lay on her back, it should keep her cooler. I just don't like the idea of anyone lying on top of her though and I can't figure out what else to do. I need help brother, what should I do?" I asked him desperately.

He began laughing so hard that he had to sit down to keep himself from falling over. He must have been projecting because everyone downstairs began laughing and I would have been crying I was laughing so hard. Once he gained control over himself again he reminded me as to why I admired his intelligence so much.

"Brother dear, why don't you just take her outside and bury her in the snow?"

I laughed at the audacity of his statement, then got an idea off of his. Moving Bella off of me, I jumped out of the bed and went into the bathroom to turn the cold water on in the gigantic Jacuzzi tub.

"Jazz, I need snow, and lots of it. I'll just put her in an ice bath to keep her cool!" I exclaimed.

I heard Carlisle's voice from the doorway. "Peter, you can't put her in the ice bath yet, she's still too human and it would cause her to go into hypothermic shock. You'll just have to lay in the bed with her and wrap your arms around her to keep her cool for now."

I frowned and turned off the water. I really wasn't thinking very well right now. Sighing, I climbed back into the bed with her and wrapped as much of my body around her as I could. Her trembles slowed considerably and, although it wasn't the full effect, it would have to do for now.

Shortly after the half-way mark Carlisle told me that, if she started trembling again, it would be safe for me to put her in the ice bath. Fortunately, I never had to resort to that. Her trembling stopped completely about four hours after it started and never started up again.

At hour forty-seven, she began to stir. I called for Jasper, Charlotte and Carlisle; Jazz and Charlotte because they have the most experience with newborns and Carlisle because of his medical expertise. Carlisle checked her over while Jazz and Char stood to the side.

Jazz looked at me and said, "I don't feel any more pain or confusion from her. In fact, she seems to be feeling content and love right now."

Carlisle looked up and said, "Peter, I think she's about to wake up over twenty-four hours early. You'd better be the first person she sees so she feels safe. Be prepared."

The rest of the family gathered in the hallway as the three in the room backed towards the door. Just as soon as they reached it, her eyes popped open.

**Bella POV**

I wasn't quite expecting it when Peter bit me, but it wasn't a shock. He hesitated for a moment afterwards, then curled up next to me protectively until I heard Carlisle's voice telling us it was time to go. I felt Peter lunge away from me and heard a crash that sounded like thunder. Then I felt myself being carried downstairs and placed on a soft bed.

'I must be in the back of a vehicle,' I thought as I felt it rocking. I figured they must be moving me so that I wouldn't draw suspicion to myself or the family. 'Rose must be pissed,' I thought.

I didn't really feel much of the fire that everyone described. It was just a bit weird that my body was incapacitated while my mind was so wide awake. Maybe it has to do with being changed by my mate.

I felt myself being carried again and figured we were at the new house. Peter laid me in my bed (I knew it was Peter because I know the feeling of his arms around me) and I almost immediately started trembling.

'Oh, here's that insufferable burning that everyone described…but it's not so bad, just like a moderate sunburn on the inside,' I thought again.

As soon as Peter laid me on top of him I felt better. Jasper suggested burying me in the snow and I chuckled inwardly; then Peter wanted to put me in an ice bath and Carlisle said that I was still too human for it so Peter just wrapped himself around me again and I calmed.

I could feel my limbs lightening and, when I tried to move them, it worked. As soon as I started moving, Peter had Carlisle, Jazz, and Char come up to check on me. Jazz assessed my emotions but he left one out; not only did I feel content and love, I felt _alive_.

I heard everyone but Peter by the door and felt my heart give one last hard pump before I gained full use of my body. I opened my eyes, found Peter, and launched myself into his arms, clinging to him like a spider monkey.

**A/N: I'm sorry if this chapter seems short and/or anti-climactic but I wanted to explain most of the change through Peter's POV with a little bit of Bella in there without spending too much time on it and adding a bunch of fillers.**

**Thanks to 01katie for pre-reading this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue!**


	14. Trouble on the Horizon

**Chapter 14: Trouble on the Horizon**

**Bella POV**

I sheepishly looked at everyone through my curtain of hair after I detached myself from Peter. I'm not one for making such a public display of affection but my primal instinct overtook me before I could control it. I was right about one thing though: I'm glad that I can no longer blush.

"Bella, we'll take you hunting, then get started on you getting used to your new body," Jasper said with a much kinder smile than I was used to seeing. I guess it was because he was no longer fighting the blood lust that he was used to feeling around me.

I cocked my head to the side, expecting to feel the tell-tale burn in my throat that indicated the unquenchable, burning thirst but felt nothing. Jazz did the same when he felt the lack of thirst coming from me and his smile turned into one of confusion.

"What's wrong, mis Corazon?" Peter asked.

"Peter, I don't feel any bloodlust. None at all. I'll give it a try though; let's go hunting and see if being around a living, breathing being makes it flare up."

He nodded and we took off through the open window with Jasper and Emmett behind us in case we ran into an idiotic hiker out here in the middle of nowhere during the dead of winter.

The first animal we came across was an elk and, while it smelled horrible, the slightest discomfort flared up in the back of my throat. It wasn't anything I couldn't ignore or work around but, with the encouraging nudge from Peter and the slight burst of courage from Jasper, I pounced on the creature, snapping its neck and carefully fed from him.

I felt ready to burst by the time the animal was half drained so I stood, licked the small bead of blood from the corner of my mouth, and offered him to one of the guys. I refused to overfeed myself but I also refused to let something go to waste. Jasper finished the elk off; Peter was still weaning himself off human blood so herbivores did next to nothing to satisfy him and Emmett said that starting on the blood from something with so little left in it would just piss him off.

After I dragged the carcass into the underbrush so it was hidden from a possible hiker but still available for consumption by a carnivorous being, I dusted my hands off and flitted into a tree to watch the guys hunt. Peter took on two wild cats that I couldn't put a name to, Jasper snagged another elk, and Emmett roused a bear from its hibernation and fought with it for a while before finally snapping its neck and draining it.

As I leapt deftly from the tree, Peter shouted for everyone to head back to the house immediately because something was terribly wrong. I pivoted so I was facing the right direction in mid-air and started running before I even hit the ground so I would be moving immediately. We weren't far from the house as it was but I made it back almost five minutes before Emmett, who was followed closely by Jazz and Peter.

I knelt beside Alice, who had a blank look on her face and Edward was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. As soon as she came back to the present, Jasper was knelt on her other side calming her as I asked her what she saw. She looked at me with a horrific expression on her face.

"The Volturi is coming. Not just Aro and the guard, but the _entire_ Volturi, even the wives. They caught wind of Peter mating with Bella, of Char mating with Edward, and their decision to stay with us. They also somehow heard about Peter changing Bella and they believe that we're a threat to them. They believe we're planning to revolt against them and they want us dead."

We all looked at her in shock, then everyone started talking at once, shooting out ideas to protect us. Even though I could now keep up with the speed of the words and the multiple people talking at once, it was overloading my senses and making it impossible for me to hear myself think.

I jumped up onto the coffee table and shouted, "EVERYONE STOP TALKING RIGHT NOW!" Every head turned to me and they all sat down where they stood, most of them ending up on the floor.

"We need to think about this objectively. Jazz, Peter, and Char have the most experience in dealing with this type of thing, so we're going to have to rely heavily on them for instruction. Alice, I know it's a lot to ask, but we need you to keep an open mind for when exactly they're coming. Carlisle, you were with the Volturi for a while; we'll need any information that you can offer on strengths and weaknesses that they may have.

"And, of course, they'll have us significantly outnumbered, so we'll need to get in contact with any alliances that y'all may have to help even those odds. When those people start arriving, Rose and Esme, we'll need y'all to help welcome them and show them where they'll be staying. Carlisle, we'll also need you to get ahold of as many bags of human blood as possible for the human drinkers. Emmett, when the others are here, you'll probably be best to head the ones that are going to rely on sheer strength to fight. Edward, you'll need to read the incoming people to make sure that they're truly pledged to us instead of being sent here by the Volturi to keep track of us. Y'all just need to remain calm and we'll get it all worked out, ya hear?"

Everyone stared at me in disbelief for a moment before Peter spoke up: "Baby, I think you've been spending too much time around Jazz, Char and I. You just said the word y'all three times and used the phrase 'ya hear'."

Everyone busted out laughing and I even allowed a small smile. We separated into small teams according to what needed to be done. Carlisle started making a list of people he knew and, when done, started making a list of the Volturi's strengths and weaknesses. Rose and Esme made a large order to Home Depot to have supplies delivered to build small huts for the visitors while Emmett and Edward went outside to start clearing out some trees for more lumber and space. Alice decided to help Rose and Esme while Jazz, Char, and Peter practically abducted me and we sat in a pow-wow circle in the middle of the living room.

"Why am I here with y'all? You're the military tactic team, I have nothing to offer in this group," I said.

Peter smiled while Jazz explained: "You, a newborn, just got the attention of nine loud, overly excited, panicked, full grown vampires and laid down the law. You also divvied out jobs for everyone and played those jobs to their strengths. That was _very_ militaristic of you. Also, you did this while being overrun with emotion and panic yourself but you just shoved it down like it didn't exist. I think this may be one of your gifts: the power of, shall we say, persuasion for now. Yes, I said gifts. I can't be sure, but I think you're some sort of shield as well, the way you block mental attacks like Edward's, Jane's, and Alec's. We'll be more sure when Eleazar gets here."

I smiled at him and realized that I'll be able to do more good than I thought during the impending war against the Volturi. I want to hurt them for threatening my family without provocation. The Volturi was going down and they would go down hard if I have anything to do with it.

**A/N: OK my darlings, I'm so sorry for the delay. With finals having just finished and 2 birthdays and mother's day as well, I got a bit bogged down for a while.**

**I know I don't do it often but I want to thank all of those of you who review! They make my day.**

**Also, thanks to 01katie for being my pre-reader. She rocks my socks!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue, enough said.**


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